The locations of the sightings are Collinsville and Caseyville,
Illinois, and a UFO sighting was also reported from a race track near Fairmont
Park. The time frame of the sightings, between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m.

A 'cluster' of independently reported UFO sightings within
a close proximity on the same evening is interesting.

The St. Clair County Sheriff,s Department and Illinois
State Police received reports of bright lights in the sky with a 'humming
noise.'

One interesting descriptive detail in the April 20 Illinois
UFO sightings was given by a female motorist driving near Interstates 255
and 64. The motorist alleged that a 'bright light in the air impaired her
ability to drive.' A similar motorist complaint compares to the recent
Illinois incident, in which a Cincinnati resident reported to the Forest
Park Police Department that a UFO seen in the vicinity of the Forest Fair
Mall impaired her ability to drive. The police report of driver 'paralysis'
caused by a UFO sighting is retained by researchers, and dated October
18, 1994.

Lastly, the KTVI Channel 2 newscast from April 21, 2000,
informs that case data of the UFO sightings on-file at the police offices
were submitted to "investigators" at Scott Air Force Base. This
is an unusual report, as the United States Air Force does not officially
investigate UFO sightings since the closure of Project Blue Book. Given
the report by KTVI news, it will be necessary to ascertain who these 'investigators'
at Scott Air Force Base would be, and if they are acting in an official
capacity.

To review the new Illinois UFO sighting data page see
the following location: http://home.fuse.net/ufo/illinois2000.html

Filed: April 22, 2000 Kenny Young -- UFO Research http://home.fuse.net/ufo/---

---

Kenny Young <ufo@fuse.net Special thanks to
Mark Crowder, Collinsville, Illinois, for informing of this report 4-22-00

The Belleville News-Democrat Friday, April 21,
2000

CASEYVILLE - Police received
six separate reports from callers between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m.Thursday, all
reporting a strange light in the sky within a radius of a couple of miles,
Caseyville Sgt J.D Roth said.

The first report came in about 3:30 a.m Thursday from
a woman who said she saw unusual lights in the horseradish field west of
Illinois 157 behind St. Stephens Catholic church , Roth said. He and officer
Steve Epps left the station and searched the field but found nothing.

Just then, dispatchers told Roth that a St. Clair county
sheriffs department deputy on Interstate 255 reported seeing lights in
a field over Caseyville about a mile north of the original sighting.

While the law enforcement officers traveled toward the
field, they heard radio traffic indicating Collinsville Police had gotten
a call about a strange light accompanied by a loud humming in the area
of Fairmont Park Race Track which is less than a mile from the Cahokia
Mounds Complex.

"We met up there with other officers , discussed
the reports and waited for Armageddon," Roth said." But it didn't
happen." The officers were ready to leave when the Caseyville dispatchers
received a 911 call from from the area of Interstate 255 and 64.

"The woman said there was such a bright light in
the air it impaired her ability to drive.," Roth said. While the officers
were in route , another call came in reporting a light moving up and down
near Illinois 157 and 161. Roth said the calls seemed to be unrelated and
by different individuals.

"The fact there were five or six kind of [reports]
puts a different spin on the investigation." Roth said

End of article -- UFO Research http://home.fuse.net/ufo/

Expert: Sightings likely not UFOs

By Christine Eufinger The Belleville News-Democrat From
Kenny Young <ufo@fuse.net 4-22-00

CASEYVILLE - A rash of bright-light sightings early Thursday
could have been little green men, but UFO experts are skeptical.

Investigators with the National Institute for Discovery
Science initially were excited by reports to the Illinois State Police
and Caseyville Police early Thursday because they were so near the Jan.
5 sightings in Highland, Lebanon, Millstadt and Dupo. And it occurred just
after 4 a.m. -- about the same time the earlier sighting occurred, said
institute investigator Roger Pinson.

But a lack of identifiable witnesses or a precise UFO
description -- coupled with a storm Wednesday night that pelted the area
with rain, high winds and lightning -- quickly fizzled the investigators'
drive, Pinson said.

``No one was able to see an actual shape.... All people
saw was lights. There was no pattern or colors or intensity or proximity
to people that makes it difficult to, for lack of a better word, get excited
about,'' Pinson said.

He admitted there was a ``100 percent possibility'' the
lights seen Thursday were related to the craft spotted Jan. 5, but said
it was unlikely.

``I'm not saying these people didn't see a UFO like the
one there in January, but based on the totality of the circumstances --
it's a storm -- it's just a could-be,'' Pinson said.

He said most reported UFO sightings occur when the sky
is clear, with better visibility that allows viewers to see further and
more easily distinguish shapes of the crafts.

Illinois UFO specialists said it's not unusual that Thursday's
sighting happened within only months and several miles of each other.

``Sightings usually go in waves,'' said Forest Crawford
of Collinsville, assistant director of Illinois Mutual UFO Network. ``It's
actually very common to have a number of sightings in an area over a short
period of time.''

But the reports that came in Thursday don't offer the
many credible witnesses -- both citizens and police officers -- who reported
sightings from Highland and down through St. Clair County in January more
support for their reports.

Officials at Scott Air Force Base and Lambert Field in
St. Louis reported no sightings or signs of spacecrafts on their radars.

The Illinois State Police received an anonymous call
just before 4 a.m. Thursday reporting bright lights. And Caseyville Police
received six calls between 3:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m., placing the bright
lights over a roughly five-mile radius between Fairmont Park and Illinois
157 and Illinois 161.

Several police departments are taking calls from people
who say they saw a UFO in the Metro East early Thursday. The Collinsville
and Caseyville police departments, along with the Illinois State Police,
and St. Clair County Sheriff's Department all received reports of UFO sightings.

The callers say they saw bright lights in the sky and
report a humming noise near the Fairmont Park area. All the reports have
been turned over to investigators at Scott Air Force Base.

These reports follow a similar sighting reported in early
January in Ironton. One family there shot videotape of a bright object
outside their home. Other reports out of Milstadt came from police officers
on patrol. One officer even snapped a picture of the craft with his Polaroid
camera.